This Senator Just a Set Record for Her Days of Service--That's 12,858 of 'Em (But Who's Counting?)

Hi, everyone! I'm Caitlin, the web producer at Glamour who's become better known as "the staffer who sends along Hunger Games links with every work email." Meredith thought some of that energy could be put to better use as a contributor, and I am totally psyched to join the conversation onThe Conversation. And, as long as we're talking energy and stamina, I want to talk about one woman who blows me out of the water. Did I mention she's 75?

I don't have to tell you that following politics 24/7 can be draining, so I like to make sure that every hour I spend reading about politics, I get 45 minutes of cute animal time, too. Congresspeople don't exactly have the luxury to spend quality time with ZooBorns like me, which is why I am endlessly impressed by the women in our government who have to deal—volunteered to deal, even—with the big issues all day, every day.

When I found out that Senator Barbara A. Mikulski crossed day number 12,858 off her Congressional calendar last week, I had tip my hat to the Democrat from Maryland. That's more than 35 years of service—more than any other Congresswoman ever. Let me put this into perspective for you: Senator Mikulski has worked in the Senate for my entire lifespan—and she served in the House for 10 years before that! That is some major dedication.

And when you set your focus on women's issues like Senator Mikulski has, it takes some grit to keep fighting the good fight. How many times has she had to take the floor and argue for paying women the same as men? Did she imagine that an unmarried woman up for political office in the 21st century would have to suffer the same homophobic slurs opponents used during her 1986 campaign? It's kind of insane to think how much has changed for women in 35 years, but there's still plenty of room for improvement. That's one of the big things we touched on in our women in politics panel on Wednesday.

Here are some numbers tossed around from the panel, too: the number of Congresswomen has more than doubled over the course of Mikulski's career, but it's not exactly time to declare victory for gender-equal representation. Women hold only 90 of the 535 total seats, popular 16.8 percent. Not all that impressive compared to world's average of women in parliamentary positions, which is 19.5 percent (yes, we bring down the world average, yikes!), "We're tied for No. 78 with Turkmenistan! We're tied for No. 78!" isn't the chant I'd like to be yelling on the sidelines—anyone of you ready to be the next Senator with serious tenure?

Could you see yourself running for office…and then staying as long as Senator Mikulski? Do you think the U.S. should be making more of an effort to get women in Congress? Or do you think that a lawmaker's gender shouldn't matter that much in the first place?